Louisa Holmes was heartbroken to discover at her 12 week scan she had lost her first baby

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A grieving woman who lost her unborn baby is calling for a change in "inadequate" NHS procedures after she says she was made to feel "like an inconvenience" in hospital.

Louisa Holmes was heartbroken to discover at her 12 week scan she had lost her first baby in a "missed miscarriage", but says what happened next in the Early Pregnancy Unit at Hull Women and Children's Hospital made her trauma worse.

The 27-year-old needed to have an Evacuation of Retained Products of Conception (ERPC) procedure which removes the pregnancy tissue from the womb and elected to have it done under general anestetic.

But despite the fact the NHS state the procedure has to be done within five days, the hospital could not offer her an appointment until nine days later.

Instead she was told to come back in four days time and to attend "sit and wait" clinics until they could fit her in - an ordeal she says will scar her for the rest of her life.

Louisa Holmes with her fiance

"One of the main reasons I opted for the surgical option was because I didn't want to go through the miscarriage at home. I didn't want to see it happen as I didn't feel strong enough.

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"During those four days, a minute felt like a day and a day felt like a year and every second of it was spent petrified of what was about happen next.

"When I went in, I had to fast as if I was definitely going to have surgery, and if they could fit me in they would.

"If they couldn't, I may be told to go home and come back again the next day to possibly have to do the same thing again.

"At the time I just agreed, but both myself and my fiancé thought that this was completely inappropriate and insensitive.

"We were suffering, grieving and very emotional and felt like we were being stuck at the back of a very long queue of people who somehow mattered more than we did.

"I was willing to do whatever it took at that point to achieve the necessary outcome but at the end of the day our baby had just died.

"Our hopes dreams and plans for the future had just been shattered in the blink of an eye. Why were we not a priority? How could they expect me to sit and wait all day in such a state, with the possibility of not even being seen? It just didn't seem right.

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"Imagine having everything you ever wanted, falling in love with it and then having it ripped away from you forever. I can't even begin to describe the heartache that we felt at that moment, and the events that followed will scar us for the rest of our lives."

Miss Holmes and her partner were in no fit state to make an official complaint, but her mum, Jan Holmes is helping her daughter call for a change in procedures and has made a complaint to the unit and to The Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS).

Miss Holmes and her mum are keen to point out the midwives and nurses were all "understanding and compassionate" and were very apologetic they could not do more or fit her in sooner and agreed the current system is inadequate, which is what Miss Holmes wants to see change.

"I can only hope that by speaking out about our experience that the process might be improved so that other women and couples having to go through this ordeal - don't feel the way that we did," she said.

"There is obviously nothing the hospital can do to take away the agony of what so many women experience every single day, but there is something they can do to ease the uncertainty, stress and worry that immediately follows and to extend a little dignity and respect to women to ensure they do not feel alone or like an inconvenience that has to be squeezed in if and when possible.

Hull Women and Children's Hospital

"This is a very personal and very sensitive subject and the point is that when a person is already forced to make an extremely difficult and unwanted choice, that choice should then be able to be carried out in a timely manner and nobody should be made to feel like an inconvenience at an already distressing time.

"If the NHS could implement even the smallest change, it will make a huge difference to those affected.

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"For so many people the effects are painful and long lasting and therefore should be handled with the utmost sensitivity and compassion."

Miss Holmes and her family, who say they know another mum-to-be this happened to, are now waiting for a response from Pals which has been promised within 28 days.

Jan Holmes said: "She was grieving, distressed and vulnerable and it's appalling in this day and age she was made to attend a sit and wait clinic for a procedure like this.

"Louisa wants to raise awareness this is happening and fight for change.They should be able to carry this procedure out promptly and with compassion and shouldn't be expected to sit and wait, wondering if and when they will be seen."

Despite the fact Ms Holmes could not have the procedure for four days and was not given an appointment when she did go back in, a spokesman for Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust said she was treated in an "appropriate" manner.

Mike Wright, chief nurse at the Trust, said: “Firstly, we are sorry to learn of Miss Holmes and her family's concerns in what must be a distressing time for them all.

“While we cannot comment specifically due to patient confidentiality, we can confirm Miss Holmes was treated in a timely and appropriate manner.

"We have spoken with Miss Holmes about her experience and understood her to be satisfied with the way her concerns have been handled. Should she wish to discuss anything further, she is welcome to contact us again.”